Rednecks for Obama

[BigFatBlonde]

Posted: 10/9/08 at 2:36pm

I'm still rubbing my eyes!






Rednecks for Obama' want to bridge yawning culture gap

by Michael Mathes


SAINT LOUIS, Missouri (AFP) - When Barack Obama's campaign bus made a swing through Missouri in July, the unlikeliest of supporters were waiting for him -- or rather two of them, holding the banner: "Rednecks for Obama."
ADVERTISEMENT

In backing the first African-American nominee of a major party for the US presidency, the pair are on a grassroots mission to bridge a cultural gap in the United States and help usher their preferred candidate into the White House.

Tony Viessman, 74, and Les Spencer, 60, got politically active last year when it occurred to them there must be other lower income, rural, beer-drinking, gun-loving, NASCAR race enthusiasts fed up with business as usual in Washington.

Viessman had a red, white and blue "Rednecks for Obama" banner made, and began causing a stir in Missouri, which has emerged as a key battleground in the run-up to the November 4 presidential election.

"I didn't expect it would get as much steam and attention as it's gotten," Spencer told AFP on the campus of Washington University in Saint Louis, the state's biggest city and site of last week's vice-presidential debate.

"We believe in him. He's the best person for the job," Viessman, a former state trooper from Rolla, said of Obama, who met the pair briefly on that July day in Union, Missouri.

The candidate bounded off his bus and jogged back towards a roadside crowd to shake hands with the men holding the banner.

"He said 'This is incredible'," Spencer recalled.

It's been an unexpectedly gratifying run, Viessman said.

Rednecks4obama.com claims more than 800,000 online visits. In Denver, Colorado, Viessman and Spencer drew crowds at the Democratic convention, and at Washington University last Thursday they were two of the most popular senior citizens on campus.

Here is the full article:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20081009/pl_afp/usvoteobamarednecks

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 10/9/08 at 2:40pm

Gentlemen, I tip my can of Milwaukee Ice to ya with a side-spit of chaw for emphasis.

[BigFatBlonde]

Posted: 10/9/08 at 3:38pm

They have my respect.

[SNAFU]

Posted: 10/9/08 at 5:17pm

Now compare this to the folks carrying on at Palin's appearances and suddenly you see a remarkable difference!

[NGD2225]

Posted: 10/9/08 at 5:31pm

WOW! I didn't ever think I would read that topic headline. I salute them.

[BigFatBlonde]

Posted: 10/9/08 at 6:47pm

I looked out the window and didn't see any flying pigs.

[killertofu333]

Posted: 10/9/08 at 7:04pm

I think it's great that they have their own opinions and firmly stand by them, instead of yielding to their "less open-minded" brethren, and marching off the proverbial cliff like sheep.

[romantico]

Posted: 10/9/08 at 7:11pm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_l-DyOvcwh8

[PalJoey]

Posted: 10/9/08 at 7:24pm

Is one of them Joe Six-Pack?

[blueroses]

Posted: 10/9/08 at 10:14pm

PJ, I hope that the Joe Sixpacks out there who are union guys, who may lack health insurance (even for their kids), who may be elderly and on Medicare, who are counting on Social Security to be there for them, will wake up and realize that a McCain/Palin administration won't be looking out for the things that matter to them.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 10/9/08 at 10:21pm

I think the Joe Six-Packs are gonna burp in her face on Election Day.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 10/10/08 at 11:04am

I thought Mme Elizabeth de Rothschild had declared that only John McCain could reach the Rednecks? Who'd a thunk a European billionaire could be so out of touch with real Americans?

[wexy]

Posted: 10/10/08 at 4:05pm

The fellow that has next to me at Yankees for the past 10 yrs is a Republican conservative fellow and very active in his church.
He is from Reading,PA.
He said that he is tired of being lied to and has seen how the economy is in his town and this was a month ago.
It is because of people like Tom that I believe Obama is going to kick Republican ass in the swing states.

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 10/10/08 at 4:09pm

All of my republican family in PA are voting for Obama.